ANALYSIS IPL REVIEW IPL 5: The Good, the Bad Below: Kolkata Knight Riders raise the trophy after a dramatic chase to and the Ugly beat the Chennai Super Kings, winners in 2010 and 2011. Right: Like Premier League football the IPL now has Manvinder Bisla reverse sweeping on his way to an a long tail of brouhaha and scandal, all packed IPL-winning 89 off 48 balls. He had been selected for just one into six weeks, but the fifth edition saw a of Kolkata Knight Riders previous 13 games and because he was uncapped by India, was on the maturing tournament, with close games and a 30 lakh cap. (Both AFP/Getty Images). high-class thrilling final. Nick Sadleir reports. 56 SPIN JULY 2012 “I must say that this edition was by far the best one to date,” reckoned former India captain Anil Kumble and it is hard to disagree with him. IPL 2012 successfully sustained the interest of spectators and television viewers as 30% of matches ended in the final over and only one league match had no consequence on who would make the knockout stage. The standard of cricket on offer at the IPL has “The perverse player improved several-fold market reflects over five seasons and a dichotomous organisers could not have asked for a greater economy that is not level of entertainment. unusual in India.” A scintillating final saw the Kolkata Knight Riders lift the trophy for the first time after chasing a massive 191 runs to secure a thrilling victory over the Chennai Super Kings. It was an appropriate climax to a riveting league. But IPL 5 was not without its troubles. Off-field scandals included a “spot-fixing” sting; clear evidence of players earning “black” money around the corner over and above their official pay packets; a team-owner was banned from a stadium for life after a skirmish with a security guard; an Australian player was arrested for molesting an American girl in her hotel room and two players were taken into custody for attending a “drug-fuelled rave”. As ever, the Indian media is best taken with a pinch of salt and the severity of some of these events was grossly overstated. No evidence of any spot-fixing in the actual IPL was ever put forward; the molestation incident seems more to have been about some fisticuffs between Australian Luke Pomersbach and the boyfriend of the girl concerned; and the raid on the “rave” was at 8pm at a birthday party in a five-star hotel that was attended even by the young children of celebrities. Nonetheless, the IPL didn’t always make the headlines for the right reasons. The “spot-fixing” sting orchestrated by an Indian television channel resulted in the immediate suspension from all cricket of five uncapped IPL franchise-members may not have produced any real evidence of on- field foul-play, but it certainly did lift the lid on the degree to which the diminutive salary cap of 30 lakh (3 million rupees or $54,000) for Indian players who have not represented their country encourages back- hand deals. The sting saw one (uncapped) player JULY 2012 SPIN 57 ANALYSIS IPL REVIEW Above: admit to being paid five times this amount saved for another story – bribing national Delhi policemen escort Luke in “black” money by his team’s owners. selectors to give their players a cap. This Pomersbach, the Australian Some of the IPL’s stars have not played latest malarkey makes that kind of thing batsman, to court. Pomersbach for India and the 30-lakh cap (players with sound a lot more believable. was charged with molesting an American woman and less domestic experience are capped at 10 Fortunately the BCCI have had the sense beating up her fiance in a New and 20 lakhs) results in a false market for to remove these limits and re-auction all Delhi Hotel. Charges were later personnel who are bought by team-owners capped players before the next IPL, but dropped. in much the same way as one does when that decision itself must be fraught with Right: playing “fantasy league” games. Except in difficulty as all players have one year left this fantasy league the reality is that many in their official franchise contracts, never Cheteshwar Pujara, the Royal of these salary-capped players are being mind whatever other business they may Challengers Bangalore batsman and another very average IPL paid fortunes around the corner in order to have on the side. performer, benefitted from the secure their services. Perhaps there is no such thing as capped player payment system. Consistent IPL performers like Ambati bad publicity and these shenanigans Rayudu and Manish Pandey (both, certainly didn’t deter the cricketing Right, bottom: officially at least, on the $54,000 cap) public’s interest. Overall television ratings Jacques Kallis, the all-round star are officially paid peanuts while others may have suggested a fractional dip on of the IPL5 final, made 69 off like Saurabh Tiwary ($1.6 million) and previous editions of this 75-episode annual 49 balls. Chateshwa Pujara ($875, 000) are no more TV series but a study has shown that (All AFP/Getty) valuable but are paid fortunes by virtue of the cumulative reach of viewership has the fact that they have represented their increased substantially from around $102 country. This massive gap is often bridged million in 2008 to just under $160 million by lucrative endorsement contracts on the in 2012. It means more people are watching side. the IPL, but for shorter periods of time. The This perverse player market reflects novelty has long worn off and it is quite a dichotomous economy which is not understandable that viewers don’t have unusual in India, a country plagued by the time to watch full matches when there income inequality and market irregularities are 75 games in 45 days. that encourage corruption on a grand scale. While there may not have been an I have often heard allegations of player increase in revenues from television rights, agents – who often take as much as 30% franchise owners will be smiling about and the greed of whom in India must be this year’s fantastic increase in crowd 58 SPIN JULY 2012 numbers – the clear surge in support for involved in the IPL because of clashes with the various teams means that potentially the early part of the home season, but large revenue streams from ticket sales and Kevin Pietersen lived up to his reputation merchandising now look like more like a as he struck 305 runs from eight games at reality at most franchises. an average of 61, with his feats including a Of course no IPL review would be terrific unbeaten hundred. His inability to complete without mentioning how many complete the league because of national sixes were walloped by the Jamaican commitments must have been a reason for Chris Gayle. This year he clubbed 59 “DLF his retiring from limited overs cricket for Maximums” in 15 matches and took home England. the Orange Cap for scoring the most runs An IPL window would make sense but in tournament – his tally of 733 runs was with so many other T20 leagues having 143 more than second-placed Gautam taken off in recent years it is hard to say Ghambir, despite Gayle having played why the IPL should be given one when it fewer games than anyone else in the top regards itself as a domestic tournament five. He was not originally bought at the and the cap of four foreign players per first auction and that he was paid only starting XI means there are already far $550,000 for his efforts – a quarter of the more foreign players in the league than biggest salary - is not easy to believe. necessary. Daniel Vettori was named as On the bowling front the Purple Cap captain of Bangalore but he only made went to Morne Morkel, who notched up 25 the starting XI for a handful of games. Of wickets from 16 games with an economy course, Pakistanis should be allowed to rate of 7.2 runs per over and an economy play in the IPL as well of 18.1. That he was dropped for Delhi’s The IPL is growing into a tremendous semi-final probably cost them a place in competition and is full of riches but the fine the final. But the star of the show with the balance between what is good for the game ball was the young West Indian mystery and printing rupees is certainly a complex spinner Sunil Narine who took 24 wickets issue for the BCCI. One gets the feeling that from 15 games with an economy rate of the little outbreak of scandals at this year’s only 5.5 and an average of 13.5 runs per tournament doesn’t begin to scratch the wicket. surface of what lies beneath in the murky As usual, very few English players were world of big deals in Indian cricket. JULY 2012 SPIN 59 ANALYSIS IPL REVIEW IPL 5: VALUE FOR MONEY STATISTICS BY: MATT WIGGINS Dale Zaheer Munaf Sunil Morne Parvinder Steyn Khan Patel Narine Morkel Awana $66,667 per wicket $52,941 per wicket $46,667 per wicket $29,167 per wicket $19,000 per wicket $2,118 per wicket Bowling averages Name Team Country Salary Wickets $ per wicket Parvinder Awana Kings XI Punjab India 36,000 17 2,118 Siddharth Trivedi Rajasthan Royals India 36,000 13 2,769 Kevon Cooper Rajasthan Royals West Indies 50,000 10 5,000 Rahul Sharma Pune Warriors India 60,000 9 6,667 Ben Hilfenhaus Chennai Super Kings Australia 100,000 14 7,143 Varun Aaron Delhi Daredevils India 60,000 8 7,500 Marlon Samuels Pune Warriors West Indies 100,000 8 12,500 Dwayne Bravo Chennai Super Kings West Indies 200,000 15 13,333 Azhar Mahmood Kings XI Punjab Pakistan 200,000 14 14,286 Dimi Mascarenhas Kings XI Punjab England 100,000 7 14,286 Muttiah Muralitharan Royal Challengers Bangalore Sri Lanka 220,000 15 14,667 Brad Hogg Rajasthan Royals Australia 180,000 10 18,000 Morne Morkel Delhi